Gold Foil Inspired Cards

I've been daydreaming A LOT lately about gold foil and calligraphy; two techniques I wish I was an expert on right about now because both trends are HOT, HOT, HOT.

From time to time, I like to step out of my wanna-a-be graphic design world and make a good ol' fashion handmade card. I ventured out this weekend to the craft stores with not Georgia but gold foil once again on my mind (along with mac 'n cheese) and was super excited when I stumbled across some foil stickers.

Say hello to my crazy-simple gold foil inspired cards.

What You Need:

Card stock

bone folder & scoring board (optional)

foil stickers

bakers twine

pretty envelopes

paper trimmer or scissors

The skill level required for this project is as basic as it gets--as in a kindergartner could handle it.

Difficult, time-consuming projects? Ain't no one got time for that.

{1}Trim your card stock down to A2 size (4 1/4 " x 5 1/2) or to what ever appropriate size for the envelopes you are using.

{2} Using your bone folder and scoring board crease and fold your cards in half.

I purchased the Martha Stewart Scoring Board & Envelope Tool set many years ago and I have to say it was a worth while purchase. If you don't own these supplies you can always use a ruler and a pen to fold your cards. 

{3}Apply your stickers and any other embellishments you would like to include 

and then sign, seal, and deliver!

My brain went to mush not too long ago and I am horrible now on keeping up with birthdays.  I like to have a few handmade cards lying around in case I don't have time to run out to the store and need to mail out a birthday card pronto. So for these gold foil inspired cards I decided to go with classic birthday words like "wish" and "celebrate".

I love how they came out--I'm almost convinced they look like genuine gold foil stamped cards.

Plus, I'm gobbling up this whole aqua, pink, gold combo thing right now. 

To me, they are a trio of colors straight from heaven.

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Mommyhood: What To REALLY Expect.

TGIF! It's funny how that term invoked such a different feeling during my pre-parenting days. 

Mamas, can I get a hallelujah--or perhaps a large caffeinated latte?

So for those of you who follow along on my social media outlets you may have seen I was hanging out some where fun this week. A few months ago I was contacted by an individual over at the site 

What to Expect--yes, that What to Expect, the site behind the bible of all pregnancy guides. The one that warned you about cankles and peeing your pants when you sneezed.

They wanted me to share how I was able to keep up with my DIY projects now that I am raising a little human.

I get asked this question A LOT which is humorous because despite producing milk and changing diapers, which don't get me wrong is a craft within itself, I really don't feel like I've accomplished much in the area of do-it-yourself projects and crafts lately.  However, I have managed to squeeze in a few things here and there so make sure to stop on by to see my tips and tricks on

How I Find Time For DIY Projects With a Baby

While writing my guest blog post for WTE (that's what we cool people refer to it as) it had me thinking about how despite all the warnings and advice on what to expect once you pop out your spawn there are a few things that people REALLY don't tell you. So I've taken it upon myself to put together a list for you because I am really nice like that.

1. It will take you three hours to watch a half-hour show.

2.  No more matter how solid of a relationship you and your significant other have, you will think about burying them in the backyard at least five times a week.

3. Your definition of a "clean house" will change.

4. You will have to teach your baby how to sleep. 

The other morning at like 2:00 am, or maybe it was 3:30 am (who the hell keeps tabs anymore?)

I walked in to find Baby B on all fours, laughing.......and then I think his head may have spun around.

Apparently, he thought it was an awesome time to practice crawling.

5. You will try to cram all your adult responsibilities in 

between the time your baby goes to bed and wakes up.

6. You will consider just moving your master bedroom into your laundry room.

7. Running an errand with a baby is like coordinating a rocket launch to Mars.

8. You will learn that topics such as parenting styles can be just as heated as politics and religion. 

If you ever want to see a group of mommies go ape-poop just raise subjects such as breastfeeding vs. formula, working vs. stay-at-home, vaccinations, and Callilou.

9. You will love your child so much it hurts.

10. You will discover that side effects of sleep deprivation closely resemble that of  a psychopath.

 

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Create Your Own Kid's Wall Art with Pic Monkey

 
Some of you may recall last summer when I shared Baby B's nursery. Surprisingly, over the course of the past few months I've been receiving a steady pace of email inquiries regarding the elephant print that we used in the gallery wall above the changing table.

I admit I let out a little laugh every time someone asks about that print because I pretty much put it together mere minutes before giving birth. Okay, maybe not minutes before but it was pretty down to the wire and I honestly didn't put much thought into it because at that point I was just ready for this room to be D-O-N-E!

In addition, unlike the invitations I design for my shop I didn't create my own graphics for this project.

Nope, that's right I just simply turned to my old friend Pic Monkey to help me out on this one.

So I decided since the wall art has become a popular subject line among my email pals that I would share how YOU can make one too (if your heart so desires).

Don't worry, be happy, no graphic design skills or expensive software is needed!

Ready to get started? 

First thing first, head over to the site Pic Monkey.

Once on the site hover your mouse over the "Design" option.

Below that you will see a list of canvas sizes to choose from.

Pick the one that will fit the size of the picture frame you plan on using.

Next, click on the butterfly image in the left sidebar and add on any overlays you want to use. 

NOTE: At the time that I created my wall art Pic Monkey's whole site was FREE, however, in order to access the elephant overlays now you must be a Royalty Member 

(which is just a few bucks for a month --still way cheaper than most people pay for wall art).

After your overlays have been placed on the canvas you can play with their placement, size, and colors.

When you click on your image/overlay a black box surrounding it will appear.

To move your images just simply drag the box around the canvas.

You can change the size of the overlay by dragging the corners of the box in and out.

Lastly, you will also have the option of changing the overlay's colors in a small pop-up box that will appear to the side of your image when you click on it. I promise the site is very user-friendly and intuitive!

Once you have your design the way you want it just simply save the image to your computer and print on some plain white card stock. Bada bing bada boom!

Wall art, invitations, birthday cards, gift tags, etc.......

Royalty member or not there is a lot of fun things you can create on Pic Monkey

( I promise they aren't paying me to say that but they totally should.)

So what fun things have you made with Pic Monkey?

PS.Come check out how I made that sweet "I Made a Wish" wooden sign here.
 Sources for the rest of the wall art can be found here.

Sharing here:
Craft Dictator

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DIY: 9 Last Minute Valentine Ideas

Valentine's is this week! Can I get a hallulelujah for all of us procrastinators out there? 

Don't worry I've got your back--because that's what we procrastinators do for each other.

Whether your in charge of little Johnny's class party or still trying to find time to make Suzy's Valentine's cards these simple but cute last minute Valentine ideas are sure to save your bootay! You're welcome.

Sew Sweet Paper Sack Valentines from Michelle Paige

Heat Transfer Vinyl "Love Bandit" Onesie from Delightfully Noted

Valentine's Day Glitter Goo from The Gunny Sack

Love-Dovey Juice Boxes from Crab + Fish

Thumbprint "Love Bug" Valentine Cards from Delightfully Noted

Gumball Flowers from Uncommon Designs

Teacher Valentine Gift Idea from Our Pinteresting Family

Valentine's Day Snack Cups with Washi Tape from Crab + Fish

Printable Yo-Yo Cards from Delightfully Noted on Uncommon Designs

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Freshly Picked Moccasin Giveaway!

I'm pee-my-pants excited about today's giveaway from Freshly Picked! 

Figuratively--just so we're clear.

It's no secret that I'm a tad bit obsessed with baby moccasins these days and that's why I am over the moon that Freshly Picked has kindly offered to give one of my lucky readers a pair of moccs 

in any choice of color and size!

These insanely cute, super-coveted shoes are 100% leather and come

 in infant/toddler sizes 1 through 10.

They come in a variety of  yummy colors too (seriously, how will you choose?) 

The cherry on top is that all Freshly Picked moccasins are made right here in the good ol' US of A.

So who's the brainiac behind FP?

It's Susan and you may have recently seen this pretty lady a few weeks ago on Shark Tank!!

This mama started her biz in 2009 from her kitchen table with limited funds and today her shoes are considered the royals of all royals when it comes to kid's moccasins (even the Kardashian's kids own a pair)!

This right here makes my heart skip a beat. I mean seriously look at all that mocc yumminess! 

To shop these high-quality, unique, and stylish shoes you can visit the Freshly Picked shop here.

Stay update with news and promotions on Freshly Picked:

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

To win a pair of your own Freshly Picked moccasins please enter via Rafflecopter below by 2/23/2014 for your chance to win! 
 Good luck buttercups!

(Giveaway open to US residents only-sorry!)

Congrats to Jillian B!
There were technical difficulties in submitting manual entries (from Instagram) into Rafflecopter and after going back and forth with their IT support with no luck in fixing the issue I had to end up using Random.org to select my winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Official rules: No purchase necessary. Open to US residents only. Prize is 1 pair of Freshly Picked moccasins in winners choice of color and size. Prize may not be exchanged for store credit or other items. Giveaway runs February 9th-23rd.Winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter and will be announced on Monday, February 24, 2014.  If prize is  forfeited or unclaimed a second winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter. The number of eligible entries received determine the odds of winning. Void where prohibited by law

Shared here:
Contests for Moms

 

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A Yo-Yo, a Printable, a Six Month Old, and The Worst Facebook Movie Ever

Another month, another free printable--that's right I'm hanging out in Uncommon Design's neck of the woods this morning sharing some fun and colorful printable yo-yo cards for Valentine's Day.

Make sure to head over there and ch-ch-check 'em out!

Can you believe Valentine's day is right around the corner? I swear my brain has been falling a few months behind these days. I'm not loving that.

You know what else I'm not loving? 
*Cough, cough....stepping up my soap box*

......how fast this kid is growing up.
Just in the past few days his babble has even begun to change.
He actually sounds like he is saying "dad-da".
That's right I AM THE ONE who baked him for nine long months, underwent the knife to bring him into this world, served as his personal dairy cow (and still continue too...) and this is how he thanks me--by making his first words "dad-da"???????


Six Months| Weight: 15th percentile (he's a peanut!) | Height: 11th percentile
Loves: the doxies, bananas, baths, and eating mommy's hair.
Hates: sleeping, getting out of the bath, and squash.

 .....my Facebook movie.
Assuming you don't live under a rock I'm sure your Facebook feeds have been bombarded with these little commercial-like movies of everyone's history on Facebook.
I watched a few and they were lovely.... then I watched mine and it was like the most anti-climatic forty-five seconds of my life. It consisted mostly of just one of my dogs (whom I rarely share anything on...which has me questioning if she secretly works for Marck Zuckerberg??), me with OTHER people's children, and me with random acquaintances whom I see about once every two years. God help you all if a life-time movie is ever made on me.

Make sure to stop by and say hi. I promise I'm not really that boring.

Instagram  |  Facebook  | Pinterest

What's killing your vibe this week? 
Did your Facebook movie make you smile, cry, or drop-kick your computer across the room?

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